Traffic relief, development coming in form of new road

Bossier City is getting a new street off Swan Lake Road and I-220 that will provide traffic relief, more access to a popular shopping center, and room for new development.

The city has annexed 60 acres that will accommodate a proposed Honda car dealership and provide for the extension of Innovation Drive that will become an access road to I-220, tie into Airline Drive by running behind the Stirling Shopping Center, and provide new frontage for other businesses and amenities.

“The Honda dealership is only supposed to take up about five acres. The remainder of that property will have a public street in front of it and all the other acreage will remain for future development,” said Bossier City Engineer Mark Hudson.

The city will extend Innovation Drive, currently located in front of the Bossier Parish School for Technology and Innovative Learning (BPSTIL), and curve it west. This will put it in front of the dealership that will be located south of BPSTIL facing I-220.

The road will then tie in at where Greenacres Boulevard currently dead ends, providing access to Airline Drive.

“The idea is residents will be able to drive from Swan Lake road to Airline Drive by using Greenacres Boulevard. We like it because it’s signalized,” said Hudson.

This extension will also provide a new ingress and egress into the highly popular Stirling Shopping Center on Airline Drive. The city plans to do this by extending the current dead end of Miciotto Lane to the new extension.

However, Hudson warns that the new entrance and exit will not include a traffic light, saying, “(The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development) would never give us a light, it’s not even worth asking.”

The road has been planned for several years, but only became a reality in late 2016 after the chance at the new dealership popped up.

“It was a pencil line on a map for about three years. We just got serious about it at the end of 2016. The dealership made us get serious,” Hudson explained.

The city will provide power, water and sewer along the new road to accommodate the proposed dealership and any future tenants.

Hudson said the project has a $15 million budget, but it is too early to obtain a real construction estimate. He said there are “substantial wetland issues” that will need to be mitigated, which could cause the cost to rise.

The new road is another example of Bossier City accommodating what is a major growth area for the city.

“With only one development and about a 2 mile stretch of street, there’s going to be thousands of feet of road frontage to be development. So we hope for more development and that we get our money back in sales tax and property tax,” Hudson said. “But I don’t have a crystal ball, so we’ll see.”

Going to take awhile for all the studies to be done and approved through all the agencies. Maybe the wetlands designation will be mitigated by new guidance from the new administration, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Glad to see progress.

Going to take awhile for all the studies to be done and approved through all the agencies. Maybe the wetlands designation will be mitigated by new guidance from the new administration, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Glad to see progress.

Going to take awhile for all the studies to be done and approved through all the agencies. Maybe the wetlands designation will be mitigated by new guidance from the new administration, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. Glad to see progress.

Why the heck is a traffic light such a big deal to ask for? Swan Lake needs to be widened and needs traffic lights installed at the 220 exits and at Modica Lott Road before any of this is started. I have little faith, unfortunately, in any proactive decision making in this expansion.